Parrots, pirates and poachers

In every pirate's story, there is always one of us perched on those rascal's shoulders. We looked so happy. Maybe some of us were, but the majority of us were either stolen or forced to be out on the open sea where there was nowhere else to be than on a pirate ship in the middle of some ocean somewhere.

We even had to pretend to be happy.

We are the Scarlet Macaws. We do have our pride to consider. So we pretend and bide our time.

Ever since then, the really large two legged creatures have been hunting us as exotic pets, caging us and imprisoning us, which has led to our near extinction.

Through the centuries, the 16th, the 17th, the 18th, (you get the picture), we have hung on and tried to survive. We have barely made it to the 21st century.

Everywhere you looked since pictures were invented, (I am a parrot, I am not sure when that was), anyway, there we were, pictures of us perching on their shoulders or on their outstretched hands. Everywhere, the Caribbean, the African west coast, the Indian coast, the Eastern American seaboard among many other places, they exploited us for the sake of their infamy.

We are proud, magnificent and beautiful birds of the parrot family, so we completely understand why we are seen as exotic and why everyone wants to be seen with us.

Our crimson plumage and contrasting yellow and blue tail feathers makes us stand out from the crowd. If we are kept separated from our kind, how are we supposed to propagate and continue our lineage if we are not allowed the opportunity to mate.

Is it not enough that our natural predators, hawks, boa constrictors, jaguars and eagles decimate our families. Now the human predators are aiding in our extinction by preying on our vulnerabilities and exploiting our lives.

Sure, there were some of our kind who loved that kind of thing. But, the majority of us scoffed at being paraded for the sake of pomp and ceremony. Well 'me matee" enough is enough.

If that were not bad enough, there were the poachers, hunting us in our natural habitat, the rainforests in Central America, Northern South America and some Caribbean Islands including Trinidad and Honduras.

They sell us to the highest bidders. So we demand our freedom to preserve our self respect and dignity and be allowed to live in peace.

My ancestor, Bird Sparrow, once belonged to Jack Sparrow the Pirate. Bird travelled all over with the pirate and discovered the locations of the rainforests that were suited to our way of life. Bird passed this information down through the centuries by asking every other parrot to keep the tradition going.

We have stayed faithful to this request and continue to keep the channel of communication open.

It is said that there is a wonderful rainforest in something called a Belize. It has enough seeds, nuts and fruits to keep us fed. There are also the blooms of the Polewood and Annatto plants to help supplement our diet. I hope there is mud and clay, because we love mud and clay. There we can have families and keep our kind from disappearing before it is too late and none of us are left because of the greed of humans and hungry animals.

I am directly descended from Bird Sparrow, I am Bird Liberty, and I have organized a huge group of over two hundred macaws and we are on the way to find this Belize. I flew everywhere, Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, everywhere that I possibly could and asked other birds to spread the word about our journey. We were to meet en route and eventually all reach this wonderful Belize where there are safe and protected habitats where we would be free to live and be happy.

Belize, one of Central America's top birding destination. The Belize rainforest, located midway between Belize city and And Orange Walk sanctuary, is twenty six miles or more of wilderness and protects a wide range of species of parrots and other birds and animals.

We all met in the blue skies converging in the general direction of the Caribbean. We flew for a long time. Finally, a scout returned informing of of a sign reading "Welcome to Belize". We all applauded, or rather squawked our relief, we were all quite exhausted, and were all ready for rest, sleep and some well deserved relaxation.

We are here now. We can squawk to our hearts content and have families and friends to communicate with. We scarlet macaws mate for life, and although we can live up to seventy five years in captivity, we would rather be free and live our forty plus years of our natural lives in a way of our own choosing.

In Belize we are called 'Lovebirds', come see us around Valentine's day.

If you are a tourist, you should visit February to March as this is the winter home for scarlet macaws. So come birdwatch, we love to show off for you. Grab your binoculars and head to south Belize. We look forward to seeing you all.

Also, thanks to a monkey called Spartacus, we now have an animal clinic where we can now visit when we are not feeling too well.

We scarlet macaws are an endangered species. We do not delude ourselves that there will not still be poachers hunting us. It is a fact of life that others will prey on us no matter what. So we will strive to protect each other and watch out for each other. Maybe we can outwit them with our ability to mimic their speech and somehow confuse or scare them away.

We sincerely thank all the good and kind humans who are trying their best to protect and conserve our species and many other animals. It is a very dangerous undertaking and we hope that you all stay safe.

Thank you.

Signed:

Bird Liberty and the Scarlet Macaws.